Summer vacation, play guide 99.9
Summer vacation is a privilege that adults don’t have! Have you got your summer vacation plan ready? For those of you who are still hesitating, let’s have a fun little chat. If you read through the whole thing, you might feel like you’ve gotten a little something extra. With this one book, 99.9% of your summer time-killing is complete!
I still can’t get away from Yamato…
This summer, the new Yamato work is probably what most readers of this magazine are paying attention to. There aren’t many ardent fans from the early days, but with a new, young fan base and a certain love-and-hate aspect, I think it’s still at the top in terms of “attention.”
Even the pro-wrestler Butcher is both hated and popular, and he’s just amazing. So, of course, Fanroad doesn’t intend to do a special feature on anime, but we’ve written a little report on Yamato. Please take a look!
Main staff, Past and Present: Yoshinobu Nishizaki (Executive Producer) became president of Yamato‘s Office Academy in July 1974. Among the anime he worked on at the time, Wansa-kun is famous, but there was also Mountain Mouse Rocky Chuck.
Toshio Masuda Toshio (Director) made war movies like Tora! Tora! Tora!, but I prefer Atsuo Nakamura’s TV show Suikoden. I also miss Yujiro Ishihara’s Red Handkerchief.
Hiroshi Miyagawa (Composer) worked with The Peanuts for a long time. He also composed Silver Road and Amazing Tamegoro. Wow, summer songs, summer songs.
Leiji Matsumoto (Director, General setting). Just one thing, he landed the star of the shoujo manga world, Miyako Maki.
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From the looks of the press conference, will Yamato go on forever?
I walked through the rain into the hotel where the Be Forever Yamato press conference was to be held. It was about 10 minutes past the scheduled time. I think the buzz before the start hadn’t died down yet, and after I came in, one of the main staff, Leiji Matsumoto-sensei, also ran in!
The press conference began. As expected, since they made Farewell to Yamato two years ago, there were a lot of tough questions from critics of the anime boom. As I munched on my sandwich, I was also nervous and flustered. I guess if you’re not as cute as Ran-chan from Candies, interviewers can be harsh. It’s common in anime for someone thought dead to actually be alive. Yamato is now a cyborg.
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Yamato is in the stars again
In the year 2202, the Dark Nebula Empire’s “Hyperon Bomb” is suddenly dropped on Earth. The only way to stop it from functioning is to destroy the detonator on the Dark Nebula’s home planet, 400,000 light years away from Earth. And so, to save the Earth again, Yamato sets out on a journey for the umpteenth time…
Well, no matter how many times it’s been done, it never gets old because of the new ideas and staff that are added each time, so in that sense, there’s nothing wrong with this one either. Instead of Julie from Farewell, it’s the much talked about Akira Fuse, who sang You’re stronger than 999.
Sasha’s theme is also featured. I thought it would be by Chiyoko Shimakura, but this time it’s Hiromi Iwasaki. (Actually, I would have preferred Mako-chan as rumored, but…) They’re also going to use the amazing Warp Dimension method. They won’t say what it is, but I’m looking forward to it.
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Who will be the heroine?
In this story, we’ll see a new female character; Sasha, the daughter of Starsha and Susumu Kodai’s brother Mamoru. She first appeared in last summer’s telefeature, The New Voyage. The story is set a year later, but she has grown to 17 years old and is threatening Yuki Mori’s position. Don’t worry, Yuki-chan, if you can just hold on for a year, you’ll be up against a 34-year-old woman.
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Yamato has changed like this
Of course, the appeal of the mecha has also been powered up. The warp distance has increased, and continuous warps are now possible. The main gun has also become a Wave-Motion Gun, which is a great service. If Yamato is boosted like this, it’s natural that enemies with stronger images will appear.
The most obvious thing about it is the anchor marks everywhere. It seems that Matsumoto-sensei came up with the Yamato symbol mark. If this flops, next year’s Galaxy Express 999 II and other original theatrical anime will be in jeopardy. The breathtaking scenery is also amazing.
Not to be outdone by 999, the advertising is on a grand scale!
Here’s what the Adventure Roman Voyage is about
A big lottery was held on June 29th at Shinjuku Station Square in Tokyo for the Space Battleship Yamato Adventure Roman voyage and crew recruitment campaign. It’s only natural that people would gather, since a 3-day, 2-night boat trip costs only 3,000 yen.
I was surprised to see how far they’ve come in promoting the movie. The ship departs on July 20th, so you may have already been there, but there must be a vast majority of people who didn’t make it. So, to make you feel like you’ve been there, I’ll tell you about the details of the plan. Whether it makes you dreamy or makes you angry, it’s a good way to kill time.
Yamato is now a Japanese car ferry passenger ship. This is a Yamato-style modification, and the vast space journey goes to Hyuga City in Kyushu.
First, there’s a splendid departure ceremony at 4:30pm on July 20th. Surrounded by brass bands and cheerleaders, followed by greetings from guests and main staff, a celebratory gun salute, and then the ship is launched to the Yamato theme!
There are many events, indeed. Digest screenings of the three Yamato movies and the new one, photo sessions, autograph sessions, a messenger helicopter, and an enemy sailing ship. Once we arrive in Hyuga City, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, a big welcome party is waiting for us. After more attractions, we finally return to Tokyo at 3pm on the 22nd.
I can’t help but feel jealous, but there were quite a few people who were exhausted by the heat during last year’s 999 Mystery Tour, so I’ll console myself by thinking that they’re just being used as a promotional tool.
TOP HALF
There are many other Yamato events
In conjunction with last year’s Galaxy Express 999, the Japanese National Railways (JNR) announced a Yamato Mystery Tour. The trip will run from July 29-31, but as usual, the destination is a secret — only the parents will be informed by mail.
The Budokan in Kudanshita, Tokyo, which has become a popular venue for anime events, will hold an event called “1980 Yamato Festival” on July 24.
In addition, ahead of the release on August 2, Fuji TV will once again be broadcasting a revival of the Yamato feature film. On July 28, a joint show of songs and movies will be held at Shibuya Toyoko Hall. On July 30-31, Meitetsu Ferry’s Yamato Maru will run from Nagoya to Sendai.
On August 2, a special train called the Yamato-go will run on the Toyoko Line from Sakuragicho to Shibuya. There’s also a strange one where 100,000 Yamato pencil boards for eating sausage were sold.
A new Yamato model with an anchor mark will be released by Bandai. As for records, the first one to go on sale was a Be Forever Yamato single from Columbia with an insert song by Isao Sasaki.
BOTTOM HALF
By the way, is there any way to see Yamato cheaply?
Even if there is something I want to see, movie ticket prices are ridiculously high! So I’d like to think about various ways to see it cheaply.
First of all, the advance ticket costs 1,000 yen, the same as for junior high school students, and includes a poster. You can get this discount ticket at Seiyu restaurants and bookstores during the opening. It costs 1,300 yen for adults, 1,200 yen for university students, and 1,100 yen for high school students.
In the case of Yamato, if you become a member of the Academy Fan Club, you can get another discount, to about 900 yen. (The fan club contact number is 03-926-1156.) It costs money to join, though.
Also, if you buy a Vega Quartz watch before July 27th, you will receive an invitation ticket. However, it will cost around 10,000 yen.
If you live in Tokyo, go to Yuran Co., the secret shop of movie mania, in Ochanomizu. Here, the number of theaters is limited, but roadshow tickets are surprisingly sold at half price!! Just knowing this should make your life as a movie lover much happier.
I thought about going to a preview screening at the last minute, but apparently the production was not completed in time and no plans have been made yet. So instead of a preview ticket, I got posters. If you want one, please apply. I’ll give them to 10 people. See the last page for details.